>> welcome to the "journal," on dw. i'm meggin leigh. >> i'm ben fajzullin. america's east coast is preparing for what could be the largest storming to hit in history. >> observers call this a step backwards for democracy. >> a shock for a bundesliga giant, and in the teens winner -- ending the team's record winning streak. a superstorm could hit the u.s. east coast in the next 12 hours. >> hurricane sandy is preparing

to make landfall. forecasters say it is on track to combine with an oncoming cold front. >> new york city has come to a standstill. officials have shut down public transport, schools, and the stock exchange. >> the national hurricane service says the storm and is gaining strength as it turns toward the coast. >> in norfolk, va., hurricane sandy is hitting the coast with strong winds and heavy rains. some areas are already under water. even though the full force of the storming is yet to come. in ocean city, md., the first signs of the approaching storm can also be felt. authorities have closed the city's beach. >> this is a big one. it is supposed to be huge. everybody is supposed to evacuate from 17th street down. >> this is almost a ghost town. the residents have either left or barricaded themselves inside

their homes. only a couple of daring beachgoers remain. >> [no audio] >> further north, in new york, preparations have been underway for days. people in low-lying areas are bracing themselves for flooding. at this long beach hospital, several buildings are being evacuated. almost 400,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. the mass transit has been shut down. >> i think it is ridiculous. new york city is a melting pot of people going to work and trying to make a living and we cannot even get around. i did not even know what i'm doing. >> president obama has canceled campaign stops. he urged residents to take all precautions. >> my first message is to all the people across the eastern seaboard, the mid-atlantic, going north, that you need to take this very seriously and

follow the instructions of your state and local officials, because they are going to be providing you with the best advice in terms of how to deal with the storm over the coming days. >> hurricane sandy is expected to collide with a winter storm and arctic winds, making it even more dangerous. it is due to hit the east coast on monday night. >> for more on this story, we are joined by our corresponnt in new york. bring us up-to-date on the latest. how close is this to new york city? >> the storm is getting closer every minute. the weather is getting worse. the hurricane is probably hitting the city by monday night. people are expecting to be without -- that they will not be able to leave their house for days. the storm will be much longer than the next hurricane -- the last hurricane to hit new york

city a year ago. there were long lines at the supermarket. it was difficult to get water, milk, batteries. some of the shelves are empty. there was no morning rush today. the streets are empty. nobody going out. transit shut down. schools and stores are closed. the few stores that are still open -- they are trying to stay open as long as possible, but that probably won't be long. >> back to waiting a city like new york is quite a challenge. what emergency services -- evac uating -- evacuating a city like new york is quite a challenge. what emergency services have been put in place? >> the police have been going door to door in the low-lying areas. those are the highest risk for flooding. there is expected to be1 feet of search -- storm surge.

shelters have been set up its public schools -- in public schools. even national guard troops have been called to help in this state of emergency. new york city is expecting the worst. >> thank you very much for that update. back in europe and international observers have called ukraine's parliamentary vote a step backwards for democracy. they say the abuses -- there is a lack of transparency. >> the governing party says it has one. -- won. there have been opposition allegations of fraud and intimidation. >> president viktor yanukovych is ruling the region's -- president viktor yanukovych's

ruling regions party celebrated before the final results were even out. >> some people really wanted us to lose, but we have won in an absolutely fair fight. >> ukrainians are now returning to their normal rhythm. their expectations of the government remain mixed. >> we need stable prices, stable jobs. politicians should do with politics. workers should work. that is all that is necessary. >> i expect to see new political forces come forward. they will bring new people with them to parliament and to politics among the opposition accused the regions party -- >> the opposition accused the regions party of buying votes. heavyweight world champion boxer vitali klitschko's party looks to enter parliament with the fourth place finish.

>> i'm sure, if not for the current election laws, we could have won a majority today. pick out the cover -- kick out the current government and formed a new coalition government. >> his party could team up with the other party of -- with the party of yulia tymoshenko. she voted from prison, under the eye of the osce election monitors. the osce slammed the elections as a step back for ukrainian democracy. >> i am joined by our correspondent inv kie -- kyev. the claim that this is a step back for the country -- what does that mean? >> the watchdogs are surprisingly clear. all the election day has been more or less calm, they say there were major violations.

there was no equal playing field, no equal media access for opposition parti. the ruling party abused its power and money to manipulate. they used money to influence these elections in their favor. we have heard it before. the osce these elections a clear step backwards for the democratic process ukraine had already made. >> the ruling party looks victorious at the moment, but we have seen revitalized opposition. is the political landscape changing? >> the two party is performed better than everybody expected. -- the two parties performed better than everybody expected. we still have to wait for the mandate. there are a lot of independent candidates. they joined the ruling party in past years. we have to wait for the final results.

>> what about yulia tymoshenko? as she influence the polls in the anyways? -- has she influenced the polls in any way i? >> this did not influence as much as many feared. many politicians from germany, for example, who have been observing these elections data coming in a country where the leading opposition is imprisoned -- elections data, in a country where the leading opposition is imprisoned, yulia tymoshenko, there can be no free election. the elections are neither free nor fair. >> thank you for the update. >> lil' wayne hipaa president has vetoed plans for a new coalition government made up of three opposition parties. after the country went to the polls for a parliamentary election, the president said she

would not accept the labor party in the government, amid accusations of vote-buying. the current bull government has a poor showing -- the current liberal government had a poor showing. peace-broker lakhdar brahimi says he regrets that a truce has not been held in syria. he is not giving up. >> a car bomb has killed 10 people in damascus. opposition activists are reporting some of the heaviest for strikes yet -- heaviest strikes yet. >> there is no sign of a cease- fire. syrian state tv shows president's coming out of their houses after a blast -- shows residents coming out of their houses after the blast. there are reports that the car bomb killed 10 people. un special envoy lakhdar brahimi had arranged a truce.

he met with russia's foreign minister. he said that diplomats must keep trying. >> i'm terribly sorry, just as sergey has said he was, that this appeal has not been heard at the level we hope it would. that will not discourage us. that will not discourage us, because we know that the people of syria deserve our support and our interest. >> lakhdar brahimi also said there was no immediate plan for u.n. peacekeeping mission to syria. that leaves little chance for intervention by western countries any time soon. >> moving on to business news -- the euro is slipping this hour on new uncertainty over greece. it triggered the debt crisis, of course. there is doubt on whether it can agree to new austerity measures. >> lenders are assessing its dismal economic situation. they are trying to figure out how to make those huge greek

that sustainable -- debts sustainable. >> experts frothe european commission, the european central bank, and the imf, the troik are still in athens, preparing the report. they will decide soon whether greece has made enough progress on fixing its economy to qualify for the next installment of the international rescue funding. one of the truck up's proposals would call for public-sector bondholders, -- the troika's proposals would call for public- sector bondholders to write off some of the face value of those bonds. in return for relief, greece uld have to carry out additional reforms. wolfgang schaeuble has rejected the idea of public-sector bondholders writing off any of their debt. he also says that a debt buyback proposal that has been floated by the troika might be possible.

it greece would borrow money from the esm permanent bailout fund. they would buy back its own debt because greek bonds are cheap right now. greece could buy 15 billion euros worth of debt for just 10 billion. the truck that is due to issue its next report on the current state -- the troika is due to issue its next report on the current state of greece's economy in november. >> i am joined by our correspondent from the frankfurt stock exchange. it looks like a volatile day on the markets. how was the troika meeting impacting stocks? >> investors a worried about a probable hair cut. anpayeld germa a he budget.

lose their confidence into the wall street to aketnehu virtual standstill. e, there is no impact.rline ar are dn. 2 of 1-hero s 50 losinby >>ha y f tte

wteou i int faltrch boengy iepdee s bn g pi reblanredeia caide ttomyayife ldsndffhe.s eaoa thp oi athahe sources of per. eaowas

siminof lisna dve aun batia b at high speed. out is hard to tell, in he ow dn r m apg --aty 2010, t oil spill ncth, i a shrp ki without shrimp. that goes through here. th o dotete t boom anytime the shrimp comehr iso o. >> on grand ie,he i o asar a the eye can see. we areead e t gu' myilig dean steer tou the petroleum slisvering the surface. he is not againstoslue noud]

bie i o. lf my family is in theil siss i bie iheap energy. the problem weot i wl mpiegosoighe bgh ou all our regulatory ancs d ug ualou politicians. >> according toea, corruption, notilisha caedheurntris. still, the slickasmoer hibuness. e ngs looking for shrimp elsewhere. zes es. as the u.s. gets readyo ect the next president, dean is definitely ready for something different. 'moi tot f romne i'm going to get rid of oma h'seehe four years and did not do what he said he would . is iot cng is is the same old thing. dn thinks presidentba halethcotrdo t wrgath.

he is n ane losia s te republican foreces ro i an environmental acvi louisiana is home to aosha ofheatn'etnd, but th a bngesoy b calsui tsee as oil and gas wells. n eugeoeare. not enough people are demanding aconro pitia. t ou people are demanding changes to where we g our engyro that's one of our largest challenges sce 2005, over 340 square mis ofetnd aund ne orleans have vanished. experts bie ts ay a mar len e devastation of hurricane katrina. they warof more dasters ahead du to climate change, but that was not a subjecturg thpridti dat. >> the no one talked about climate change. we had three debat and not a single mention of climate

chge the first time where we have had complete quiet on that iue. i was very disappointe >>e ll not say who he is voting for. no matter who becom president, dnophe will have a full plate. >> the country is on its way t phin outucar power. geansays promoting -- germany is promoting alternative sources of energy. >>osreinan iue. ientists have a solution. here, downsizing is the key. is aresh idea that could help germany's solar-energy industry out of its current crisis, using a lens to concentrate light on the mini solar panel. this man won the prize for his multilayered solar panel. it could be a cheaper

alternative to bigger panels, while still producing the same amountf electricity. price is a big issue. attorney's solar-panel makers are struggling to keep up with china --ern's solar-panel makers are struggling to keep up with china's. >> with ouroncenttion in technology, we are offering the cheapest electricity in sunny areas compared to other systems. the award was presented to this solar ereenr as the industry faces tough times. a former prize winner's sol energy business is shedding around 1000 jobs. sma makes solar-technology compents callepower converters, essential into putting power into the grid. chinese composition and cuts to subsidies have hit his company hard.

>> we need the government to support -- to provide support for german manufacturers. we need stronger funding for research and development, and we need an easy way to access funds. >> researchers agree. they are already experimenting with technology they say could bring even more light into their mini-panel, the kind of break through the company needs to compete. >> it time for a brief look at some of the other stories making news around the world. israel has launched three air strikes on gaza. the israeli military says it was targeting our rocket-launching site and militant base. the exchange of fire comes three days after both sides accepted an unofficial truce, brokered by egypt. >> the philippines ex-president has refused to enter a plea on

charges of misuse of public money. she is in poor health, but could face life imprisonment if convicted of funneling nearly $9 million from the country's lottery int. >> german authorities say money laundering is on the rise. last year, police in germany received some 13,000 complaints of suspected fraud, substantial rise over 2010 -- a substantial rise over 2010. >> if you are into sports and you have been following the bundesliga, you would have guessed this would happen at some stage. the bundesliga leaders, mighty bayern munich, have fallen. >> it breaks their record undefeated run this season. >> the face of bayern's first

defeat of the season deflected the ball and passed his own keeper to give them the win -- but let the ball past -- deflected the ball past his own keeper to give them the win. bayern started welcome a dominating from the kickoff, but leverkusen struck first. kiessling scored. >> i was worried i would score -- put it in my own net. >> bayern was not playing with its usual fluidity. the croatian had his 8th goal of the season. that was as good as it got for bayern. >> the ball just would not go in. you have one day --

>> this was bayern's first loss at home in almost a year. it is one that boateng will want to forget. >> it was a case of deja vu in nahover. -- in hannover. >> the celebrations went on for quite some time after a match that swung one way and then the other. it seemed like a familiar story for hannover. they went behind to a schlaudraff strike. then they doubled their advantage 2-0 and it looked like another game had gotten away from gladbach. then there was an amazing comeback.

brouwers equalized with a strong header, bringing the team to its feet. there was a stunning free kick to give gladbach the victory. >> time to have a look at the rest of the bundesliga results from this weekend. starting with dortmund's win. schalke beat nuremberg. mainz marched past their opponent. hamburg won. >> let's look at how the results affected the table. at the top, not much difference. bayern munich is still way ahead. four points behind them is

schalke. bort -- dortmund are holding down fourth. dusseldorf slides down to 15. wolfsburg trying to get out of the elimination spot. not much fun at the bottom, but at least they are in the top league. >> your up-to-date on "journal." -- you are up-to-date on "journal." >> see you soon.